Introducing the new record-breaking 11,695 piece LEGO World Map – most pieces ever!

May 25, 2021 | 18

Say hello to 31203 World Map which has officially broken the record for most pieces in a retail LEGO set!

The 11,695 piece LEGO World Map is a part of LEGO’s Art Collection takes the crown from the LEGO Colosseum, which has held the title of LEGO set with the most pieces (9,036 pieces) for only six months.

This LEGO 31203 World Map will cost US$249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399.99 and will be released on LEGO.com & LEGO Brand Stores on 1 June 2021, before a wider retail release from 1 August 2021 onwards.

See below for regional pricing and links:

• LEGO 31203 World Map [US] – US$249.99
• LEGO 31203 World Map [AUS] – AU$399.99
• LEGO 31203 World Map [UK] – £229.99
• LEGO 31203 World Map [EU] – €249.99
• LEGO 31203 World Map [CAN] – CA$349.99

If you’re planning to buy the LEGO World Map on 1 June, please consider using these affiliate links above as they help support the website! It’s a tiny thing you can do that goes a long way in helping. Thank you!

The LEGO World Map is truly epic in scale, measuring 25.5 in. (65cm) high and 40.5 in. (104 cm) wide.

As the “largest* LEGO set ever”, I feel like it deserves an asterisk because the set’s mind-boggling piece count is really inflated because its all studs and 1×1 round tiles.

For those that prefer to use price per piece to evaluate sets, the LEGO World Map comes in at a very respectable US$0.02 per piece, making this incredible value.

If you’ve built a LEGO Art set, think of this as a souped up version of any existing Art set (even the 4x Hogwarts Crest variant) and truly provides a really fascinating and challenging build for the wanderluster in you.

The vibrant colours are really eye-catching in person, and shades of the oceans draw inspiration from bathymetric mapping of the ocean floor.

The new LEGO Art World Map can be reimagined in a number of different ways to express the personality and travel memories or wishes of different builders.

Customisable brick-built pins can be placed to mark out destinations already visited or highlight those still on the builder’s bucket list to give this masterpiece a personal twist before it’s proudly displayed.

If you’ll notice, the land masses are completely made of white studs, which allows for all sorts of customisations – you can stick pins, LEGO animals, minifigures, or colour in countries/regions you’ve visited and essentially tailor the look of the map to your heart’s content.

The set’s building instructions show how the 40 interconnecting base plates are divided into three sections for the build that can be arranged in one of three different ways, allowing you to place your favourite part of the world in the centre of your map – so for example, if you’re like me and call Australia home, you can place Australia at the center of the World Map.

According to LEGO Art Creative Lead Fiorella Groves, there are essentially 3 levels to configure the map – the first being, how you lay out the map, whether you have Asia/Europe in the center, the Americas or the Pacific.

The second step up is where you customise the map based on your travels, or your travel bucket list, dotting the continents with whatever you want.

The third is for the most ambitious artists/designers, where you have full reign to decorate the oceans as you see fit with the vibrant palette of colours available.

The new LEGO Art set offers adults and their families a challenging and immersive building experience to help them relax and recharge as they reminisce about holiday memories of the past or start planning future excursions.

An accompanying soundtrack featuring stories from travel experts has been curated to immerse listeners in their passion for exploration as they build.

The soundtrack features travellers’ tales from bloggers and adventurers including Torbjørn C. Pedersen, the first person to visit every country in the world in one unbroken journey without flying, and blogger Syazwani Baumgartner who has experienced some of the most remote places on the planet.

• Syazwani Baumgartner from the “Travel Muse Family” blog who shares her experience of visiting one of the most remote villages in the world.
• Torbjørn C. Pedersen who was the first person in history to visit every country in one unbroken journey without flying.
• Dane & Stacey, a New Zealand couple who run a travel YouTube channel called “Daneger & Stacey”, who speak about a trip to the Cook Islands.
• Ernest White II who is anAmerican travel TV producer and host.
• Fiorella Groves, a LEGO designer and travel lover.

Fiorella Groves, Creative Lead for LEGO Art, commented: “We know that our adult fans love to travel, but many haven’t been able to do so for over a year now. We thought that there was no better way of helping explore the world while relaxing in the comfort of their home than by allowing them to build, rebuild, plan and reminisce through building. We hope the LEGO Art World Map will inspire new adventures in some, and help others relive and celebrate wonderful travel memories from the past.”

When I first saw this set arrive at my door, I was pretty surprised, and looking at the piece count, dreading the build, but I’ve decided to try and approach this set as the Designers envisioned – taking my time with it, and not rushing it out for a review.

It’s by no means a quick build, and is not designed to be speed-built and completed in the quickest time possible. You can, but I’ve tried to adopt a more relaxed approach, which I’ll cover in Part 1 of my review tomorrow.

This photo above is my progress across 4 straight nights of building, and coupled with the included podcast, I am really enjoying it and getting in the mindset of travel – reminiscing about places I’ve been, and places I’ll go to when borders re-open,

Now that you’ve seen the set, what do you think of this 11-thousand piece LEGO set? Does this appeal to you?

This LEGO 31203 World Map will cost US$249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399.99 and will be released on LEGO.com & LEGO Brand Stores on 1 June 2021, before a wider retail release from 1 August 2021 onwards.